Friday, July 19, 2013

It
has been reported that TSA Officers at airports are now searching cars. The
news started to spread after a story ran this week stating that a
woman found a notice informing her that her car had been searched by TSA.

The
short version: While we deploy numerous layers of security, TSA officers are
not inspecting cars or mandating that they be searched.

In
this case, it turns out the car was searched by an employee of a car parking service.

Each
airport authority, along with its state and local law enforcement partners, is
responsible for securing airport property, including the outer perimeter.
At this particular airport, car searches are part of their “airport security
plan.”

An
airport security plan addresses a myriad of security requirements that each
airport must adhere to in order to protect the traveling public, which includes
the physical security of the airport property. While the airport security plan
is approved by the TSA, it is up to each airport authority and its state and
local law enforcement partners to follow the plan that has been implemented.

Gag
Gift
– A gag retirement gift designed to look like an improvised explosive device
didn’t look like a gag to the TSA Officer who spotted it on the X-ray at St.
Petersburg / Clearwater (PIE). With its metal box and wires strewn about, it
looked like it could be the real deal.

Loaded Gun (HOU)

49
Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 49 firearms, 36 were
loaded and 10 had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos
at the bottom of this post.

Inert
Ordnance and Grenades etc. - We continue to find inert hand grenades and other
weaponry on a weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a
realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these
items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause
significant delays in checkpoint screening. I know they are cool novelty items,
but you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here and here on why inert items cause problems.

Four
inert/replica/novelty grenades were discovered this week. Two were in carry-on
bags at Las Vegas (LAS), and the others were discovered in checked baggage at
Seattle (SEA), and San Jose (SJC).

An
empty M60 igniter was discovered on a key ring at Richmond (RIC). While these
do make interesting key rings, they can also be used in harmful ways. So… best
not to bring them.

Items
in the Strangest Places –It’s important to examine your bags prior to
traveling to ensure no prohibited items are inside. If a prohibited item is
discovered in your bag, you could be cited and quite possibly arrested by local
law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items
were found in strange places.

A
three-inch pocketknife was discovered concealed in a passenger’s bra at
Honolulu (HNL) after she went through the metal detector.

A
box cutter blade was detected concealed in the shoes of a Salt Lake City (SLC)
passenger.

A
17½-inch sword was detected concealed in the cane of a Laredo (LRD) passenger.

Two
paring knives were discovered concealed inside the lining of a passenger’s bag
at Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

A
lipstick knife was discovered in a passenger’s bag at San Antonio (SAT).

A
credit card knife was discovered in a carry-on bag at Albuquerque
(ABQ).

A
razor blade was detected in the shoe of a passenger at Phoenix (PHX).

Unfortunately
these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about
these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are
finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the
throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up
with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a
penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to please
leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an
individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these
items.

*In
order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a preliminary
report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from what I report
in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or end-of-year numbers
TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be estimates.